Installing Indoor Cat Tree

[sparkleeeeee]

I just wondered if anybody could help me decide, i have just called my local breeder who specialises in pure beeds. he does have alot of breeds but the ones i am interested in are sussex and maran. he has some 3 month old sussex or year old currently laying maran. i did origionally want sussex but maran were second on the list. he said i will have at least two month wait for eggs from the sussex but the maran are already laying, i did want POL.

i do have two toddlers so i have to consider them. anybody have and advice as to how friendly they are and egg production (omlet guide says 260 eggs a year with the sussex but nothing about the maran, are they just as good layers?)

i dont know if it is better to get the sussex as they will have more of a chance to get used to the kiddies before they start laying.

 

hopefully the eglu will be here tomorrow, what should i go for?

[bronze]

oooh Marans

just because they lay chocolate eggs

[xChicken04x]

i just done some research and it says marans lay around 200 mahogany colured eggs per year. apparently they are very lazy birds and will get fat if you let them. personly i would just get both so then you dont have the hard desision of which one to take. but if you reeeeeeeeealy have to choose i would go for the sussex.

[Elaine C]

Hi

 

A difficult choice but then choosing chooks when space is limited is difficult - I want them all NOW!! I've no personal experience about the friendliness of the two breeds or egg production but maybe have a look at this site that has info on both breeds. For the morans,t his site gives egg production at 200 ish per year but just look at the colour of the eggs and apparently they are quiet girls (well according to this site)

 

http://www.marans.co.uk/

 

Personally, before the Horsham 3 turned up and joined the Guildford four I was looking at maybe getting a moran (amongst others) just because of the egg colour but also looked at Light Sussex that I believe have a tinted egg but then again I already had 4 hybrids so quantity of eggs not so important and they are also friendly, especially the Amber Star who chatters away to me constantly! Don't know how many girls you're thinking of getting - maybe go for one of each!

 

Good luck with your choice - enjoy the eglu experience and whatever breed of chooks you decide to go for.

 

E

[sparkleeeeee]

thank you for your help

it is such a hard decision, i wanted to get three girls and did think about a mix but with them being different ages, i worried the sussex bight be picked on by the maran who are older and bigger. do you think this might happen?

i love the egg colour of the maran and they are beautiful birds, and the sussex are lovely as well.

the website was really helpful, thank you elaine, i am the same, i would love to have all of them but hubbie would go mad if i filled the garden whith chooks.

i think i might go and have a look when the eglu is here and let my heart decide. as long as they will be ok with the children and are nice natured they will be ok. the breeder sounds like a nice guy so i think he will put up with me dithering tring to decide. he sounded like a really nice old fashioned norfolk farmer who loves his birds.

[bridgy chooks]

We're probably a bit biased but I can definitely vouch for light and speckled sussex

 

We were originally going to get a light sussex and a cuckoo maran but ended up getting a speckled sussex and she's lovely. Weirdly though the light sussex lays tinted eggs and the speckled sussex lays creamy/white shelled eggs

 

They both have really good characters but I also know people with marans who say the same about theirs. The only thing I would say is that I've heard from a couple of people that marans go broody easily. Maybe go for a mix of breeds if you really can't decide

 

Have fun

[Martin B]

oooh Marans

just because they lay chocolate eggs

 

Ditto! They are a bit aggressive though, not good for children.

[Jools]

I keep a few Marans bantams and they are lovely, friendly, placid birds - my favourites!

 

Don't be swayed by the egg colour though as you will be disappointed. Cuckoo Marans in this country lay eggs that are quite a bit lighter than the ones in that photo, and the better the layer, the lighter the egg colour. Oh yes, and the bigger the egg the lighter the colour. So I would go by the look of the chicken - whichever one appeals to you the most!

[Tina C]

I know someone who has a Sussex and a Maran amongst her flock of five and she has not reported any problems with them integrating. The Maran's eggs have lovely brown shells.

 

I would get both but I suspect the Sussex will be the friendlier of the two.

[TheK9s]

I am confused...

 

I too am quite taken with Marans but the omlet guide clasees them as "heavy" and therefore not suitable for the eglu.

 

So do people keep them in eglus anyway?

 

I'm getting more confused by the day here!!

[Jools]

Mine are bantams and they would be fine in an Eglu. Don't know about the big girls though - might be a bit tight?

[feemcg]

I currently have Buff Sussex and Wheaten Marans chicks at 4 weeks old and both breeds are the friendliest wee things out of all the chicks I've hatched.

I would not recommend Welsummers - the chicks were very timid and jumpy and only now at 11 weeks has the boy calmed down a bit (he's going anyway).

[Elaine C]

i think i might go and have a look when the eglu is here and let my heart decide. as long as they will be ok with the children and are nice natured they will be ok. the breeder sounds like a nice guy so i think he will put up with me dithering tring to decide. he sounded like a really nice old fashioned norfolk farmer who loves his birds.

 

This sounds like a good plan. I only chose two of mine, Billie and Nina, as the orignial two came with the eglu and I adopted the other 3. I went for the 2 that seemed the most inquisitive and friendly and hanging around at the front. These are the most friendliest of mine but I think because I handled them more from the start that also helped. I think though it is hard to apply hard and fast rules about the friendlinss of different breeds as I think within the breeds there are different personalities and probably makes a difference how much they are handled from the start. But hey, I'm not really an expert!

 

Don't worry about hubbie, I had a fight on my hands to get him to agree to the first 2 but he was all for getting the rest!!

 

Good luck with your choice. I'm sure you, hubbie and children will love them.

 

E